It had been nearly two years since I traveled to Japan—a long absence, considering that for about 15 years, I went there an average of five times a year. And I discovered I really didn't miss visiting the Land of the Rising Sun much, especially considering the 10-hour plane ride from Los Angeles to Tokyo (followed by an hour-and-a-half bus ride from Narita airport to the city) and the exorbitant value of the Japanese yen (everything cost nearly double compared to 2007, no thanks to the exchange rate). Still, when I arrived in Tokyo, it felt good to be back, and I was curious to see how the car culture in Japan had changed in the past couple of years.

My first glimpse came at the Tokyo Motor Show, where I was hoping to see a few exciting sports-car concepts, such as the next Nissan GT-R and a Honda S2000/Acura NSX successor. Unfortunately, neither turned up...instead, the show floor was dominated by electric vehicles (EVs), reconfirming my belief that the enthusiast spirit in Japan had dimmed to a flicker.

A few days after the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show, Nissan invited me to attend the Nismo Festival (Nismo Fest), an annual day-long celebration put on by Nissan's motorsports division, and an event I had never attended. As in 2010, it was held at the Fuji International Speedway, one of my favorite tracks in Japan. And although I was resigned to the fact that this affair would be just another exhibition of the latest EVs, as was rumored by the Japanese media, I nevertheless decided to go.

The day before the event, the weather was miserable, with heavy rain and near-freezing temperatures. However, on the day of the fest, the rain clouds magically disappeared, resulting in one of the clearest and sunniest days of the season. What's more, Mt. Fuji was in full view, in all its glory, capped with a fresh layer of white snow that had fallen the day before. This divine setting resulted in tens of thousands of attendees. According to Nismo, 32,000 people showed up, 5000 more than the previous year. And they were treated to quite a show, one that catered to enthusiasts of all levels.

There were cars on the track all day, including some that I thought I would never see run again. There was the Nissan R381 race car, which won the Japanese Grand Prix in 1968 (a race for Can-Am/Group 7-style cars, not F1 machines), the R390 GT1 that placed 3rd at Le Mans in 1998, the GT500 R34 and R35, both winners of the Super GT Series, and the R35 GT-R that driver Michael Krumm drove to this year's FIA GT1 drivers championship. There were so many notable cars hot-lapping and racing that there's no space to list them all here. All the major Nissan drivers were there, too, including Krumm, Satoshi Motoyama (Super GT ace) and Aguri Suzuki, former F1 driver and one of the men who piloted the R390 GT1 at Le Mans. And when these guys were on the track, they went all out.

Nismo Festival 2011 had a little of everything for everybody. There was a children's section, where kids took turns riding toy cars, an engine teardown/rebuild exhibition for true gearheads and, of course, a segment dedicated to race queens. At one point, fans were even allowed on the track to talk to and take photos of their favorite cars and drivers, and by the looks on their faces, they were living a dream.

The day was so vibrant that I would recommend that Nissan hold a similar event in the States. With Nissan's rich racing heritage in the U.S., imagine the cars and drivers that could show up. If the Tokyo Motor Show represented the new school of automobile thinking, then Nismo Fest was all about being old school...and in my opinion, old school is still where it's at.